Monkey Attacks

BIOTERRORBIBLE.COM:
In the aftermath of man-made bio-terror generated
pandemic, the government and media may attempt to scapegoat monkeys just as
they did in the 1994 book The
Hot Zone and the 1995 blockbuster movie entitled Outbreak.
Since 9/11, there have been unprecedented reports of monkey attacks,
monkey escapes,
monkey thefts
and monkey smuggling
which may suggest that the monkey scapegoat option is being primed for
prime-time.

Title: Monkey Injures Several People In IndiaDate: November 13, 2007Source:Red Orbit

Abstract:A wild monkey went on a rampage in a low-income
neighborhood in the Indian capital, injuring several people, most of them
children, police said Monday.

Police sub-inspector
Gaje Singh told The Associated Press that the attacks started late Saturday in
the Shastri Park area of New Delhi, adding that it was not immediately possible
to give an exact tally of the injured. Local news reports said as many as 25
people were injured.

Singh said officers were
patrolling the neighborhood in search of the rogue animal.

“But the monkey hasn’t
been spotted yet,” Singh said.

People in Shastri Park
often sleep outside their homes or on open roofs to escape the heat.

Neighborhood resident
Naseema, who goes by one name, carried her 1-year-old daughter into her house
in attempts to escape the animal. “The monkey followed me in and buried its
teeth in my baby’s leg,” she told the Times of India newspaper.

As New Delhi’s forest
cover shrinks, rhesus macaque monkeys have overrun its government buildings,
temples and residential areas, occasionally biting passers-by or snatching food
from them. A government official died last month when he fell from his balcony
during an attack by wild monkeys.

Part of the problem is
that devout Hindus believe monkeys are manifestations of the god Hanuman and
feed them bananas and peanuts, encouraging them to frequent public places.

Last year, the Delhi
High Court reprimanded city authorities for not doing enough to stop the
animals from terrifying residents.

City authorities have
experimented with using langurs – a larger and fiercer kind of monkey – to
scare or catch the macaques, but the problem persists (Red Orbit, 2007).

The owner might finally be willing to give up his pet capuchin. Police say Noah
the monkey bit his owner for the second time in two weeks Monday night.

Noah is like family to Babe Hamric.

"Even though this happened,
he's still my baby."

That's what Hamerick told NewsChannel 3 when his pet monkey bit his thumbs off
two weeks ago. After Noah went for his legs last night, Hamric seems to be
reconsidering.

"From what my officers reported, the owner had made a statement last night
that he was not willing to give up the monkey after this latest bite,"
said Kathy Strouse, Chesapeake Animal Control.

Gayle O'Neal, the woman who bred Noah, says Hamerick never paid in full for
him.

She emailed Hamric saying she is willing to take Noah back for Hamerick's
"safety and well-being". O'Neal says she is more concerned about
Noah, worried that Hamerick did something. She thinks the trust factor may have
been broken.

O'Neal is also concerned with Noah's teeth. They should have been filed down or
removed as a certification requirement for service animals.

Hamerick has told NewsChannel 3 Noah is certified to help him deal with post
traumatic war stress from Vietnam.

"When I get ready to go into an anxiety attack he'll jump on me or hug me
around the neck and he'll chatter in my ear - so I know it's time to sit down
and relax," Hamric said.

Officials are questioning whether Noah will be able to relax in another setting
with another owner.

Monkey experts say he will first need to be neutered and have his canines
removed. If deemed home-friendly, he would be better off with a female owner.

Noah could also become a breeding monkey.

Before anything happens he will need a temperament evaluation.

Euthanizing Noah would also be an option.

"If you take him, you take me too," Hamric has said of his monkey. He
might not be happy with the result, but fortunately for Noah, authorities say
several people have already called and are willing to adopt him (WTKR, 2010).

Title: Family Vows To Keep Monkey After AttackDate: July 21, 2010Source:RTV 6 News

Abstract: A Hamilton
County family said they have no plans to get rid of a pet monkey that attacked
several people and a dog after it got loose on Wednesday.

A teenager in the home called 911
just after 10 a.m. to report that his family's pet Patas monkey had gotten out
of its cage and was tearing up his house at 2936 E. 276th St. in Atlanta.

"We have a monkey and he's
gotten out of his cage. My brother's hurt and so is my dog," the man told
the operator.

When police and animal control
officers responded to the scene, the monkey's owner, Bobbi Phelan, had gotten
the animal back into his elaborate indoor-outdoor cage.

Her 15-year-old son suffered a
cut to his head, and the family's dog had his ear torn off by the animal,
police said.

"He is part of the family.
In fact, when people ask if I own a monkey, no, I don't own a monkey, because
he's my son. We have a monkey," Phelan said, "But I'm not taking it lightly.
I do understand human life and protecting it and the risk."

She said the 40-pound monkey, who
she's had for six years, jumped around the home and ate some Pringles, but
didn’t mean to hurt anyone.

Hamilton County Sheriff's
Department Deputy Vicky Dunbar said because of the attack, the monkey will be
considered a vicious animal and that a follow-up investigation will be
conducted.

"The animal is extremely
quick, extremely strong," she said. "My understanding is that it has
about the strength of three to four men and had very large teeth."

The monkey has bit Phelan once
before. She spent three days in the hospital, but said that's when Eujo started
puberty, becoming aggressive.

Phelan said she's already added
locks to the monkey's cage, but doesn't plan to give him up.

"He's my son," she
said. "I didn't give birth, but I love him just like I love any of my
children."

In Indiana, residents are not
required to have a permit to own a pet monkey (RTV 6 News, 2010).

Abstract: An Oneida
Castle woman became the victim of an attack from the unlikeliest of creatures
in Central New York while playing with her son on Sunday.

Nick Fedchenko, of Prospect Street in Oneida Castle, said his wife Amy was
playing with their two-year-old son on the newly installed tire swing in the
backyard when they were attacked by an escaped capuchin monkey.

“Out of nowhere a monkey ran up and was going after our son,” he said. “She
intervened and the monkey attacked. It jumped on her several times and she
threw it off. It bit her twice and penetrated, causing puncture wounds to her
middle finger.”

He described a long retreat to the house for his family.

“She had to keep the monkey at bay from the swing all the way to the house
until she could get me,” he said. “The monkey was coming at her the whole time.
When she got to me, the monkey was at our side garage door trying to get in
after them still. I was standing in my garage shocked to see that there was a
monkey wrenching at the door.”

He put on leather gloves and a jacket before proceeding outside as his wife
called 911.

“I went out and kept the monkey on the porch,” he said. “The monkey came after
me a few times, but eventually we got it settled down when a banana came out.
The authorities came here and did a great job.”

State Police Captain Francis Coots described the scene upon arrival.

“A trooper arrives and sees the monkey on top of the house,” said Coots. “The
owner of the monkey, Robert Jones, who lives just around the corner, comes over
and gets a hold of the monkey. It apparently had escaped from his residence
unbeknownst to him.”

Coots said Jones produced proof of the monkey’s rabies vaccination and his
license from the Department of Environmental Conservation to own an exotic pet.
Amy was taken to the hospital and the monkey was tested for rabies.

Fedchenko said the results of the test had not been made available to him on
Thursday.

The eight-year-old monkey, Jada, was scheduled to be euthanized on Wednesday
and not held for observation while the rabies test is run in accordance with
state law, but The Dispatch could not confirm if it had taken place.

The Oneida County Health Department could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Abstract: Florida
wildlife authorities said they were trying to find the owner of a monkey that
bit a man on the ear.

Eduardo Monteagudo, a neighbor of
the southwest Miami-Dade County victim, said he witnessed the man cooking his
dinner Tuesday when the small monkey climbed onto his shoulder, Miami's WSVN-TV
reported

"When he saw it, he tried to
hit it and it bit him on the ear," Monteagudo said.

Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue
units said they responded to the home about 7 p.m. and tried to coax the
monkey, a black-and-white Capuchin, off the home's roof.

"He was scared, scared of
the crowd, the lights, scared of everything," Lt. Lisa Wood told Miami's
WFOR-TV. "Once we got him back there where it was quiet, he sat very calm,
let us move things around and then I put the carrier down and he went right in
like, oh, thank you very much."

Investigators said they were
trying to find the owner of the monkey. Neighbors said the animal has been seen
loose before (UPI, 2010).

Abstract: A Japanese
monkey that was captured in Shizuoka Prefecture after biting over 100 people
has escaped from a park, sparking a warning from local authorities. The monkey,
named Lucky, escaped from Rakujuen Garden in Mishima on Monday morning. The
macaque was spotted near JR Mishima Station, and some 20 city workers launched
a search, but were unsuccessful. The Mishima Municipal Government has warned
residents to lock their doors, saying there is a possibility the monkey could
bite more people.

In a news conference on Monday, city officials said Lucky escaped when a worker
cleaning her cage opened an inner door without locking the outer one. At first
she remained beside the cage for a while, but workers failed to catch her.

"It was a human error," Rakujuen head Shizuo Sugiyama said in an
apology.

Lucky bit 118 people in five cities and one town before city workers captured
her on Oct. 10 last year in a resident's home. After naming the monkey Lucky,
city workers put her on display at the garden. Souvenirs associated with the
monkey were sold and the garden saw an increase in visitors, but Lucky had been
losing hair, apparently due to stress (Chimpanzee Info, 2011).

Title: Man Falls To Death From Rooftop After Monkey AttackDate: February 22, 2011Source:Times of India

Abstract: After two
elephants injured a Korean couple at Amber, it was the turn of monkeys on Monday to create a ruckus. A
42-year-old businessman fell from the third floor of his house after being
attacked by a group of monkeys in Galta Gate area in the morning. He died on
the spot.

According to the police, the deceased, Giriraj Prasad Gupta, was a resident of
Raghunath Colony in Galta Gate and owned a shop in Surajpole. He used to take a
stroll on the rooftop of his third floor along with his wife every morning,
said his father Brij Bihari Gupta.

At around 6 am, Giriraj asked his wife to go down and get tea for him.

"She had taken a few steps down the stairs when a group of moneys jumped
to the rooftop from another house and attacked Giriraj," said a police
officer.

His wife told police that while trying to scare away the monkeys, Giriraj asked
her to run for safety.

"As his wife climbed down the stairs, she saw the monkeys attacking
Giriraj," said the officer adding that the he fell head-on to the ground.
"Giriraj's brother, who was in his room on the second floor, heard a loud
thud and peeped out of the window. He saw Giriraj and rushed outside. But he
had died on the spot," said the officer.

Nevertheless, the victim was rushed to SMS Hospital by family members, but declared brought dead. The hospital informed the
police following which a post-mortem was conducted.

"We have handed over the body to the family members. A physical
verification of the spot will be conducted on Tuesday," said the officer. (Times of India, 2011).

Abstract: A small monkey
attacked two children and ran wild for hours Thursday in Fremont, police said.

The two girls were around nine
years old and suffered scratches, according to Fremont Police Chief Tim
Wiersma. Wiersma said the
girls should be okay.

The grivet monkey, which is about
the size of a raccoon, figured out a way to unlatch his leash and run away from
his owner on Hickory Street, Wiersma said. Police fired two rounds at the pet
monkey during a nearly three-hour pursuit that ended with the owner capturing
it around 6 p.m.

The owner was cited with allowing
an animal to run at large, which Wiersma said is a minor misdemeanor with a
fine of up to $150. The animal spent Thursday night with its owner, who did not
come to the door when WNWO's Michael Henrich and Michael Melchiorre knocked.

Wiersma also said this owner has
been cited for the same offense one time before, when the monkey escaped and
scratched a different neighbor, but the department's hands are tied. The police
chief said he would like to see some sort of exotic animals law put in place to
avoid these types of incidents (North West Ohio, 2011).

Abstract: More than two
years after a chimpanzee mauled her, Charla Nash will once again be able to eat
solid foods and regain her sense of smell thanks to a full face transplant,
doctors at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital said Friday.

"I am happy to report that
the team has achieved tremendous success," said Dr. Elof Eriksson, chief
of the Division of Plastic Surgery.

Surgeons also transplanted two
hands to Nash, but they didn't thrive and were removed.

In February 2009, Sandra Herold
had called her friend Nash for help in getting her pet chimpanzee, Travis, back
inside her house after he used a key to escape. When Nash arrived, the chimp,
who had been featured in TV commercials for Coca-Cola and Old Navy, jumped on
her and began biting and mauling her, causing serious injuries to her face,
neck and hands.

Police shot Travis to halt the
attack and he later died of gunshot wounds.

Doctors say they see Nash as more
than an animal attack victim.

"To us, Charla is a
courageous, strong person. (She) inspired the team to do everything possible,
using our collective expertise, to restore her quality of life," Plastic
Surgeon Director Dr. Bohdan Pomahac said.

Nash's face transplant was
different than others done before because of the extent of damage to it, the
doctors said.

She is the third person at
Brigham and Women's Hospital to receive a full face transplant; Dallas Wiens
was the first in the United States to have such a surgery in March, also at the
hospital.

Nash is the second to receive a
double-hand transplant at the same time as a face transplant; the first was
performed in France in 2009. That patient died of a heart attack in a later
operation.

Nash had lost her nose, upper
jaw, most of the soft tissue on her face, and both upper and lower lips. She
was also left blind.

The surgery, which was performed
last month, involved removing some tissue and attaching skin and underlying
muscle, based on vessels and nerves that provide motor and sensory functions,
Pomahac said. The entire hard palate and teeth were also transplanted.

The result was
"miraculous," said Nash's brother, Steve.

The thing Nash is most looking
forward to, her brother said, was visiting their favorite hot dog stand.

As for the double hand
transplant, doctors successfully attached the new hands, but a few days later
Nash became sick and her blood pressure fell, causing circulation problems to
the new limbs. After a few days, doctors saw that the hands were not thriving
and removed them.

In the next three months, Nash
will regain sensation to her face, and in six to nine months will be able to
smile, control her lips and otherwise make facial expressions, Pomahac said.

"All these things will
gradually improve," he said.

Nash skipped her child's high
school graduation because she was afraid of taking away from the occasion, but
thanks to the transplant, can look forward to being present for college
graduation, Pomahac said.

The surgery will give her a
chance to have a more normal social life, he said (CNN, 2011).

Abstract: A family father
may face charges over negligence after his son was seriously injured by a
monkey at the weekend.

The four-year-old child was bitten on the hand by male Barbary Macaque named
"Juppi" at a wildlife park in Preding, Styria, on Sunday after he was
lifted over the fence by his dad to feed the animal. There are however
signposts at the enclosure warning against coming too close to the fence.

Doctors at the Children’s Clinic in Graz, where the boy underwent surgery, said
that a main nerve was ripped by the bite.

Hospital chief Michael Höllwarth said today (Tues): "That’s the third time
a visitor was bitten by a monkey there. I wrote to the managers asking them to
strengthen safety and accident prevention standards, but no one got back to
me."

Managers of the wildlife park meanwhile criticised the family dad for his
actions. "What are we supposed to do? Now we will probably be ordered to
put the animal down," they said.

Deutschlandsberg district authorities said they will investigate the incident.

The wildlife park made headlines last August when kangaroo "Sumsi"
escaped its enclosure. The animal, which was spotted around 50 kilometres from
the site some days later, is still on the run. (Australian Independent, 2011).

Abstract: An aggressive snow
monkey named Yoshi, who was being kept by a Tennessee family, bit a woman and a
sheriff's officer before he was shot and killed, police said on Friday.

Four other monkeys belonging to
the same family were taken to a shelter.

"That was worse than any dog
I've ever seen," said Capt. Tony Barrett of the Bedford County Sheriff's
Department, describing the bloodshed caused by the "very aggressive"
monkey that kept coming at lawmen even after apparently being shot at least
twice.

The monkey's first victim was
Michelle Pyrdum, who was bitten in the leg while she was washing her truck on
Thursday morning in the Shelbyville area, Barrett said.

Once the injured woman was taken
away in an ambulance, it was up to sheriff's deputies to figure out how to
handle the 3-1/2-foot monkey, which had retreated two houses down to the roof
of the garage from which it had escaped. The monkey left the garage and moved
toward two deputies.

"He approached one of them,
stopped and leaped five or six feet through the air after the deputy. The
deputy shot at him. I don't know if he hit him or not, but he didn't hurt him
too bad," Barrett said.

After firing his shotgun and
realizing the monkey was still coming, Deputy Ronnie Gault put his left forearm
up for protection, Barrett said. "The monkey was going for his face, but
he got a hold of the left arm and bit into it, scratched and filleted the arm
wide open."

Gault beat the monkey off with
the shotgun and Capt. David Williams shot the monkey twice, first with buckshot
and then with a 12-gauge slug.

"That buckshot knocked him
down, but the slug got him," said Barrett.

The day's monkey business wasn't
over for lawmen. Four other monkeys lived on the property, two in the garage
and two in another outbuilding, Barrett said.

With the help of animal control
and veterinarians from Nashville, the others were subdued and taken by Animal
Rescue Corps to a compound at the state fairgrounds in Nashville.

"We were out there until at
least 10 at night," said Barrett, noting it wasn't the first time lawmen
have been called to deal with issues involving the monkeys belonging to Ricky
and Wilma Smith.

Wilma Smith is in Bedford County
Jail, serving time for manufacture of methamphetamine and weapons possession.
Her husband had been caring for the monkeys. State law allows for possession of
monkeys (Reuters, 2011).

Abstract: A curious little girl in Springfield, Mo., got an
unpleasant surprise when she walked up to a car in a parking lot to greet an
animal sitting inside it. The animal, a type of monkey known as a macaque, bit
her on the forehead.

The parents of
8-year-old Tayce Nickel told the local TV station KY3 that she just wanted to
see the car's unusual passenger.

"As we got out,
Tayce, being 8 years old, wanted to see the monkey, so she got out, looked up
at the monkey, said, 'Hi,' and [the person in the car] gave the animal just
enough slack to where it could jump out, grab her by her hair, and bite her on
the forehead," said Mike Weeks, Tayce's father.

The monkey's owner,
Vicki Pulley, said her husband was in the car with the monkey, named Charlie.
When Tayce reached into the car, she said, Charlie felt threatened and
scratched her. There was no bite, she insisted.

Tayce's parents
called local animal control officials, who decided to not confiscate the
monkey, but did take it to a veterinarian for testing. Tayce, in the meantime,
is taking antiviral drugs and antibiotics as a precaution.

Infectious disease
experts say monkeys can carry the Herpes B virus, which can be transmitted
through saliva and can be potentially deadly.

"Herpes B can
lead to encephalitis, a swelling of the brain. The virus is in the saliva and
can get into the brain," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor and
chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University
School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. "Fortunately, it's pretty
rare."

Monkeys aren't the
only animals able to spread serious illnesses to humans. Experts consider the
diseases spread by the animals on the following pages -- ranging from reviled
rodents to cute and cuddly family pets -- among the most serious (ABC News, 2011).

Title: Drunk Man Attacked After Jumping In Cage Full Of Spider MonkeysDate: November 14, 2011Source:Examiner

Abstract: A Brazilian
mechanic is recovering after he voluntarily jumped into a cage full of spider
monkeys and was attacked Sunday.

The victim, Joao Leite dos
Santos, can be seen in the video pulling off his shirt and jumping into a cage
full of monkeys at the Sorocaba Zoo. The mechanic had jumped into the lake
surrounding the animals because, "he was hot and wanted to cool off,"
according to reports.

Santos admitted to being drunk,
when he jumped into the lake surrounding the monkeys. Once inside, Santos found
himself surrounded by six of the monkeys, two of which that attacked him on the
arm drawing blood.

Santos was rescued by three men
and was eventually treated by Office of Mobile Emergency Care (SEMC) (Examiner, 2011).

Title: Chimps Attack American At South
Africa SanctuaryDate: June 29, 2012Source:ABC News 4

Abstract: Chimpanzees at a
sanctuary for the animals in eastern South Africa pulled an American researcher
who was leading a tour into their enclosure, bit him severely and dragged him
nearly half a mile (kilometer).

The man was giving a
lecture at the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden on Thursday when two
chimpanzees grabbed his feet and pulled him under a fence into their enclosure,
said Jeffrey Wicks of the Netcare911 emergency services company.

He was in intensive
care in critical condition Friday after undergoing surgery at the Mediclinic
hospital in Nelspruit, 180 miles (300 kilometers) from Johannesburg, hospital
officials said.

The man had
"multiple and severe bite wounds" and was dragged nearly half a mile
(kilometer) by the chimpanzees, Wicks said.

Edwin Jay, chairman
of the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa, said the man had crossed the first
of two fences separating the chimpanzees from visitors and was standing close
to the second fence, which is electrified, at the time of the attack.

Jay said the two
chimpanzees involved were part of a group that had been rescued from Angola and
brought to South Africa more than a decade ago. He said they were placed in
their night enclosure and would be held there while sanctuary officials
investigate what led to the attack and confirm the fencing is safe. Then they
will be returned to the enclosure.

Jay would not release
the man's name, saying only that he was an American researcher. Tourists
visiting the sanctuary at the time were evacuated safely, he said.

The man lost part of
an ear and parts of his fingers in the attack, according to the South African
newspaper Beeld. It said the sanctuary's director fired into the air to scare
the chimps away from the man, then chased them back into their enclosure.

The international
institute founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall opened the sanctuary
in 2006. It is a home to chimpanzees, which are not native to South Africa,
rescued from further north in Africa. Some of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary
lost their parents to poachers in countries where they are hunted for their
meat, and others were held in captivity in cruel conditions.

In the United States,
a Connecticut woman, Charla Nash, was attacked in 2009 by a friend's chimpanzee
that ripped off her nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being killed by
police. The woman was blinded and has had a face transplant. Lawyers for Nash
filed papers this week accusing state officials of failing to seize the animal
before the mauling despite a warning from a staff member that it was dangerous (ABC
News 4, 2012).

Title: South Africa Rules Chimps That
Attacked Texas Student Will Not Be PunishedDate: July 3, 2012Source:Fox News

Abstract:Two adult chimpanzees that viciously attacked a U.S.
student at a primate sanctuary in South Africa were defending their territory
and will be allowed to live, the lead government investigator said Tuesday.

But one of the
sanctuary managers, Eugene Cussons, said he did not blame Andrew F. Oberle for
crossing between two safety fences to retrieve a rock that the chimps were in
the habit of throwing at tourists.

Oberle was in
critical condition and in a medically induced coma in the hospital by Monday
night. On Tuesday, doctors refused to describe his condition saying the family,
which has arrived from the United States, is traumatized and asking for privacy.

Pienaar told The
Associated Press that the chimps tore off one of Oberle's testicles and some
fingers from one hand as well as mauling his head. This was "to my
astonishment, I couldn't believe it because I know those chimps
personally," he said.

He said he found no
negligence on the part of the Jane Goodall Institute's Chimpanzee Eden SA in
eastern South Africa.

"The only thing
that happened is Andrew stepped over the small barrier fence and went right up
to the electric fence," he said. "We all know that they are tame
chimps, but he shouldn't have done that, he's a researcher, he's supposed to
read the body language."

Oberle was leading a
group of tourists at the time. The visitors were 10 meters (33 feet) from the
second fence, as required by safety rules. After Oberle stepped over the first
fence, the chimps dragged him under the electric fence, then out into a public
area where they continued to attack him, Cussons said.

Cussons said he was
happy that Pienaar found the chimps were involved in territorial defense and
would not therefore be killed or punished.

He said he was forced
to shoot one of the chimps, but not mortally, after he and a ranger failed to
scare the animals into releasing Oberle. When they drove a car at them, chimp
Nikki jumped onto the front and smashed the windshield, causing Cussons to
fire.

Nikki, aged about 16,
was wounded in the abdomen and is being treated at the Johannesburg Zoo.

The other attacker,
Amadeus, in its 20s, is on lockdown with its family at the sanctuary.

Pienaar, who has
worked as a conservationist for 33 years, said he condoned the shooting, a last
option under protocols that recommend first shock treatment or pepper sprays.

"Other than that
I'm happy with things," Pienaar said. "I'm not having the chimps put
down. I don't think there's reason for that."

Oberle is a
post-graduate student of anthropology and primate behavior at the University of
Texas at San Antonio. It was his second trip to study at the South African
institute, which takes in orphaned and abused chimpanzees (Fox
News, 2012).

He has been on the
run for several years – spotted in Pasco, Temple Terrace, Town ‘N Country,
Clearwater and the southern tip of Pinellas – and Florida Fish and Wildlife
Officials say the monkey bit a woman Monday while she was sitting on the
ground.

It happened near the
Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in south St. Pete. Authorities say the monkey came
from behind the woman, and bit her on the back.

FOX 13 is honoring a
request by wildlife officials not to disclose exactly where they are searching
for the monkey, over fears that crowds of people may scare him away.

The woman was treated
for her injuries and is expected to be okay. A photograph of her provided to
FOX 13 News by theTampa Bay Times shows scratches and marks on her
back.

The woman's daughter
tells FOX 13 News what happened wasn't necessarily an attack; rather, the
monkey came up behind the woman and surprised her.

"I don't believe
we can call it an attack. I think it's more that the monkey jumped on her
back, both sides freaked out," the woman's daughter said.

The monkey is a
5-foot tall rhesus macaque. They are typically not dangerous, but officials
believe in this case the monkey may have been getting to close and too
comfortable with people.

FWC trappers and
investigators are working to trap the monkey, and they say they are confident
they will do so (My Fox Tampa Bay, 2012).